Edinburgh Festival 2021?
Unsurprisingly the 2020 Edinburgh festivals have slipped past quickly. Without the pressure of tickets bought and dates in the diary, it was all too easy to forget or put off watching on-line content. What was available was good, but none of us wants to be back here again next year. So now I suggest is the time for some hard thinking and decision-making by Edinburgh’s various Festivals, Edinburgh Council, and owners of non-council Festival venues – Underbelly, Assembly, Pleasance, University of Edinburgh and others.
It’s obvious that the status quo ante is impossible in the near – or maybe even medium term - future. If we’re lucky, 2021 may be an interim year, entirely different from any Festival before or in the future. But it may be the shape of things to come, and it would be as well to do some radical planning now and get it right.
2019 gave me a new perspective on the Festival. Accustomed since my 20s to get around the city centre on foot, I found my progress substantially impaired by a broken ankle and crutches. Inside the venues I had lots of help – accessibility policies are excellent. Outside it was a different matter. I needed to use buses and taxis to reach venues, but not all buses were following their normal routes, and taxis often had to take detours, or were unable to stop outside venues. Because Edinburgh council decided to prioritise (able-bodied) pedestrian access, some city centre roads were closed to traffic (including public transport and taxis). On some pavements the crush of pedestrians was so great that they were all but impassable for anyone with impaired movement.
Increasingly over the last few years, pedestrian traffic from the large multi-performance venues on the South Side has been funnelled through two parallel streets heading to the High Street, the Mound and the Assembly Rooms. Bus parking for the Edinburgh Tattoo on George IV Bridge and the Tattoo audiences heading towards the Castle cause further congestion…
Like those in charge of arts venues world-wide, the directors of the various Edinburgh Festivals are no doubt already counting seats and working out how big an audience they can accept if there’s one metre distance, or one-and a half. I’m confident that inside many buildings, audiences and performers will be as safe from infection as possible. But what needs to be tackled in a bold way is the viability of Edinburgh as a small city hosting several of the World’s biggest Festivals simultaneously.
Here are some suggestions:
1. Move some of the Festivals to different dates
Both the Film Festival and the Jazz Festival now successfully operate in June and July respectively. I would suggest that the Book Festival can be moved to the spring, probably in Charlotte Square, or to late autumn probably indoors, at the Assembly Rooms, for example. The Edinburgh Military Tattoo could also take place earlier or later in the year.
2. Split the Edinburgh Fringe Festival up and move the parts to different dates
There are advantages in moving the Fringe to July (see below) but separating the comedy output (much of it professional) from the drama (some professional, some amateur) would give both more space. Let’s say comedy in first two weeks of July, drama, dance and music last two.
3. Forget the multiple venues – use other buildings city-wide
The major danger of infection in the Fringe is the overcrowding within and around venues caused by queuing and café bars. While some permanent buildings at the Pleasance, or within Edinburgh University may still be suitable for individual performances, the numbers of performances in these big venues will have to be massively curtailed. Moving the Fringe to July would mean that the purpose-built council venues – the Usher Hall, the Queen’s Hall, the Lyceum, Kings, Festival Theatre and Playhouse – would be available for comedy, drama and dance performances. Old-fashioned solutions would be available – school halls, and gymnasiums, once the backbone of the Fringe, might host two performances a day in July. Venues outside the city centre could be used too, perhaps fulfilling the much repeated but rarely carried out promise to bring the festival to the whole of Edinburgh! Oh and how about the Tattoo moving to the Highland Show grounds? Lots of room and plenty of parking!
4. Moving other Festivals will give the EIF more space and other venues
I’ve assumed for simplicity that the International Festival will remain in August. If the other Festivals move, then as well as a quieter city, with easier access to venues, the Festival would also be able to use venues usually taken by the Fringe, for example, the Cathedrals, the Botanics, the Assembly Hall.
5. All the Festivals will have to be smaller
Even if all these proposals were put into place, all the festivals will have to be smaller, with fewer performers and smaller audiences. They will be less diverse too. Orchestras, theatre, dance and opera companies from abroad are unlikely to come next year. Nor will the bigger overseas contingents for the Military Tattoo. Who would insure them against cancellation of flights, or imposition of quarantine? Visitors from Europe may want to attend, but from further afield? The curated festivals, the EIF, the Book Festival, the Tattoo, will deal with this admirably. As a recent editorial in Opera magazine said, there is much to be said for giving opportunities to British-domiciled artists. But the Fringe society, for the first time ever will have to limit participants. They won’t like it, but if there’s to be a Fringe in 2021, they will have to do it.
6. A blended Festival
Since the start of lockdown, arts organisations have provided us with many examples of – often free - content of various lengths. The EIF’s free online lunchtime concerts in August were fine examples of these. The recitals by Nicky Spence and Catriona Morison, each accompanied by Malcom Martineau, were high-quality performances by Scottish musicians, with international reputations. The production values were high, with interesting lighting, and good sound. The Book Festival too provided more than adequate free substitutes for the usual tented interviews. There was free online Fringe content. I would suggest that for the next year at least, all the festivals might provide at least some of their content online, either broadcasts of live events, or in addition to what it might be possible to perform live. Whether they provide these for a fee or for a donation would be up to them. It would be interesting to know what the economics of this year’s online events were. I would guess that the Book Festival might set its lack of ticket income against the amount it made in donations – and the amount it didn’t spend on travel and accommodation!
I haven’t yet asked an important question: how will Edinburgh residents cope with all of this? It may be that on balance people will prefer a salvageable portion of the Festivals to happen all at the same time in August 2021. It may also be the case that the Directors of the Festivals are preparing to muscle in and preserve their own territory.
Sadly, the omens for the Council’s long-term planning are not good, and suggest they may be too much inclined to give way to the private arts businesses. Last September, immediately after the festival street shutdowns, many streets in Edinburgh were closed intermittently over a period of several weeks so that a Fast and Furious film could be made. (Rumour had it that the council got no money for this – it was felt important to “raise Edinburgh’s profile!!) This year the council’s consultations with Underbelly who operate both the Christmas and New Year festivities indicate serious flaws in their planning. Underbelly were initially allowed to sell tickets for the Hogmanay Street Party before it was cancelled. The Christmas Market and funfair will be “spread out” to enable visitors to go on a “trail” rather than cram into a smaller space. How this will help reduce pavement congestion in Princes Street is unclear!
People from Edinburgh and the surrounding areas buy the majority of the tickets for the festivals. The Festivals and Edinburgh Council should be prepared to make public their discussions and consult widely on all questions relating to the festivals in 2021. This should be a priority. Wait and see won’t do!
